This gives such a great voice to feelings so many of us have, the term "convenience contradiction" sums up the trade-off we are passively accepting everyday in practically every aspect of our lives. I am old enough to notice the difference, but I really worry my kids aren't.
Love your words, this essay is the straw that broke the ‘joining substack’ camels back for me, excited to keep reading and choosing the path more frictioned
It's so un-motivating to come on here with every intention to write only to see that, once again, a better delivery and execution of the type of thing I want to say has already been said.
Then I realize I get to write about something else as this now exists and is mostly what I wanted to talk about.
Thanks for giving my time back and keeping my ego in check.
Enjoyed this very much. If we can summarise The Screwtape Letters as being about how the devil gets us by removing difficulty, it is an amusing irony that in the 1940s, Macmillan NY turned down a chance to take on the work because it thought it was too difficult for American readers. (NB I know this from archival research)
So okay, I have a PhD in Economics, and have been a massive C.S. Lewis fan for decades. And then on a random Wednesday this Gen Z kid drops an essay that refracts one through the other in a beautiful, painful, honest series of insights. I needed that. My teenage kids needed that. My students needed that.
Kyla Scanlon: You stand as a good example that you don't have to go to Stanford or an Ivy League university to build a brilliant career. There are lots of great lecturers at great universities, colleges, junior colleges, community colleges and trade schools all over the USA. The trick -- admittedly easier said than done -- is finding the right fit, which might take some trial-and-error. Young Americans: don't let rejection keep you down at any age.
I am a recovering elitist and can't help noting that Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman commented in one of his substack posts that "there are a lot of good, interesting people in U.S. education, and not just in the high-prestige schools".
First, thank you for spot on cultural commentary. So helpful. And if you’re not already familiar with these authors, I’d like to call to your attention Jacques Ellul (The Technological Society and much more), and Peter Turchin and cliodynamics. I look forward to more from you.
I thought about how the economic of YouTube has changed when this week so many male content creators mourned at the decision of the “Outdoor Boys” to decide to leave YouTube because the financial successes of his videos were negatively impacting his life and his family’s safety even in as a remote location as he was living at. He was definitely the opposite of Mr. Beast. The 2030s will be when AI runs everything from content creation to the algorithms that judge who is worthy for Google & Amazon’s wealth.
Kyla, what a wonderful articulation of so many of the things that I've noticed and felt but not found the vocabularly to express.
Thank you!!
This gives such a great voice to feelings so many of us have, the term "convenience contradiction" sums up the trade-off we are passively accepting everyday in practically every aspect of our lives. I am old enough to notice the difference, but I really worry my kids aren't.
100% for kids, its a muscle
Love your words, this essay is the straw that broke the ‘joining substack’ camels back for me, excited to keep reading and choosing the path more frictioned
yes!! thank you!
So much insight in one piece. Really great stuff.
Really well done. Thank you!
It's so un-motivating to come on here with every intention to write only to see that, once again, a better delivery and execution of the type of thing I want to say has already been said.
Then I realize I get to write about something else as this now exists and is mostly what I wanted to talk about.
Thanks for giving my time back and keeping my ego in check.
Write! Let it pour from you!
Enjoyed this very much. If we can summarise The Screwtape Letters as being about how the devil gets us by removing difficulty, it is an amusing irony that in the 1940s, Macmillan NY turned down a chance to take on the work because it thought it was too difficult for American readers. (NB I know this from archival research)
This is the best essay you've written in a while
Thank you!
Wonderful piece and I thoroughly enjoy your writing.
So okay, I have a PhD in Economics, and have been a massive C.S. Lewis fan for decades. And then on a random Wednesday this Gen Z kid drops an essay that refracts one through the other in a beautiful, painful, honest series of insights. I needed that. My teenage kids needed that. My students needed that.
This is really lovely, and sobering!
If you’re not already familiar with it, you might enjoy Jim Forest’s “The Wormwood File.”
not familiar, thanks for sharing!
Kyla Scanlon: You stand as a good example that you don't have to go to Stanford or an Ivy League university to build a brilliant career. There are lots of great lecturers at great universities, colleges, junior colleges, community colleges and trade schools all over the USA. The trick -- admittedly easier said than done -- is finding the right fit, which might take some trial-and-error. Young Americans: don't let rejection keep you down at any age.
yes - Western Kentucky University made me who I am today!
I am a recovering elitist and can't help noting that Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman commented in one of his substack posts that "there are a lot of good, interesting people in U.S. education, and not just in the high-prestige schools".
What a smart, articulate, and sad essay. Thank you, Kyla and keep up the great work.
First, thank you for spot on cultural commentary. So helpful. And if you’re not already familiar with these authors, I’d like to call to your attention Jacques Ellul (The Technological Society and much more), and Peter Turchin and cliodynamics. I look forward to more from you.
I thought about how the economic of YouTube has changed when this week so many male content creators mourned at the decision of the “Outdoor Boys” to decide to leave YouTube because the financial successes of his videos were negatively impacting his life and his family’s safety even in as a remote location as he was living at. He was definitely the opposite of Mr. Beast. The 2030s will be when AI runs everything from content creation to the algorithms that judge who is worthy for Google & Amazon’s wealth.
Brilliant! Thank you Kyla. This paper should be published in all the social media’s accounts and studied in high schools🤩